Focused Research Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (MS-FRG)
NSF funds collaborative, time-limited mathematical sciences research groups at U.S. accredited institutions of higher education, including interdisciplinary teams, to tackle major research challenges with wide impact.
⚑ Up to 3 years, with possible creativity extension up to 2 additional years after substantial progress in first 2 years. · International branch campus costs require specific justification that activities cannot be performed at the U.S. campus. · Risky and interdisciplinary projects are explicitly welcome.
This is a mathematical sciences collaboration program, not an IPPRA core line. The team’s work is social-behavioral risk, policy, and public-opinion research on energy, weather, education, and security, so they would only be peripheral partners at best rather than plausible PI-level proposers.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-08-18
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 80 strong | technical depth: substantial; funds basic research |
| IPPRA | 48 partial | outside portfolio topics; social/behavioral work is minor; funds basic research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 10 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
The purpose of the Focused Research Group activity is to support collaborative groups employing innovative methods to solve specific, major research challenges in the mathematical sciences. A major challenge is an outstanding problem of significant importance that requires the focused and synergistic efforts of a collaborative group to solve, and whose solution will have wide impacts in the mathematical sciences and potentially in other areas. Groups may include, in addition to statisticians and mathematicians, researchers from other science and engineering disciplines appropriate for the proposed research. Risky projects are welcome. Interdisciplinary projects are welcome. Projects should be timely, limited in duration to up to three years, and substantial in their scope and impact for the mathematical sciences. Funded projects that show substantial progress in their first two years may be recommended for a creativity extension for up to an additional two years.
Eligibility
*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs): Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of sub-awards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: U.S. National Science Foundation <grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Science Foundation conventions SEE AN NSF EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Science Foundation's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.